I've always said that when she is on, Ana Ivanovic plays some of the most beautiful tennis I've ever seen. I remember when I fell in love with her game back in 2007, when she lifted the Los Angeles crown mostly due her huge forehand. Although her game dismantled after her French Open triumph, Ana remains one of the standout players on the tour. In past years she's worked hard to return to the top of the leaderboard, but it's only now that she is showing the consistency required to achieve her goal.
2014 is proving to be Ana's big year, as the Serbian has already won her first title in more than two years in Auckland. She continued her invincible run at the Australian Open, easily dismissing Kiki Bertens and Annika Beck in the opening rounds. She then passed a big test, coming from behind to defeat home-hope Samantha Stosur 6-7,6-4,6-2 to reach the fourth round.
Facing the tournament's overwhelming favourite, Ana came armed with the full artillery. Serena Williams, the world No.1, was riding on a 25-match winning streak that saw her win the US Open and the WTA Championships, as well as Brisbane just a week ago. However, Ivanovic remained confident, played aggressive tennis, and relied heavily on that huge forehand to whip the American's otherwise unbreakable defense. Although she won the first set, Serena could not match her opponent's fabulous display, falling 6-7,6-3,6-3. I was pleasantly surprised to see how cool Ana was when she served out her biggest success since the 2008 Roland Garros.
Even though she didn't take a set off of Williams in four previous meeting, Ivanovic saw a chance opening up and she believed in it: "I actually believed," she said. "I had some confidence coming into today's match. I really did certain things extremely well, and I kept her under pressure throughout the whole match, I felt."
Ana also talked about a different mindset, an improve mental focused that helped her get the win: "I just think I stayed in the moment physically. I didn't think much about the occasion and who I was playing, because it can get overwhelming. I just stuck with my things and it really paid off. It's hard. I had to remind myself all the time to stay in the moment. Because there were moments where it could have gone either way. But I believed in my game and stepped up when I needed to. I had to break a fourth round spell—what better place to do it than here against such a champion?"
The most remarkable aspect of Ivanovic's 9-match winning streak is that she managed to beat two of her nemesis, namely the Williams sisters. In addition to overcoming Serena in Melbourne, Ana also defeated Venus for the Auckland crown. As she confessed, the latter victory proved extremely important: "I kept thinking and going back to that match against Venus," Ivanovic said. "I felt in Auckland Venus was serving a lot faster than Serena today, and that definitely gave me confidence for today's win."
Next up for the resuscitated Ivanovic is a clash with Canadian prodigy, Eugenie Bouchard, whom she lost to in their previous meeting at Wimbledon last year. However, judging by the way she is currently playing, Ana has a solid chance of advancing deeper into the tournament.
2014 is proving to be Ana's big year, as the Serbian has already won her first title in more than two years in Auckland. She continued her invincible run at the Australian Open, easily dismissing Kiki Bertens and Annika Beck in the opening rounds. She then passed a big test, coming from behind to defeat home-hope Samantha Stosur 6-7,6-4,6-2 to reach the fourth round.
Facing the tournament's overwhelming favourite, Ana came armed with the full artillery. Serena Williams, the world No.1, was riding on a 25-match winning streak that saw her win the US Open and the WTA Championships, as well as Brisbane just a week ago. However, Ivanovic remained confident, played aggressive tennis, and relied heavily on that huge forehand to whip the American's otherwise unbreakable defense. Although she won the first set, Serena could not match her opponent's fabulous display, falling 6-7,6-3,6-3. I was pleasantly surprised to see how cool Ana was when she served out her biggest success since the 2008 Roland Garros.
Even though she didn't take a set off of Williams in four previous meeting, Ivanovic saw a chance opening up and she believed in it: "I actually believed," she said. "I had some confidence coming into today's match. I really did certain things extremely well, and I kept her under pressure throughout the whole match, I felt."
Ana also talked about a different mindset, an improve mental focused that helped her get the win: "I just think I stayed in the moment physically. I didn't think much about the occasion and who I was playing, because it can get overwhelming. I just stuck with my things and it really paid off. It's hard. I had to remind myself all the time to stay in the moment. Because there were moments where it could have gone either way. But I believed in my game and stepped up when I needed to. I had to break a fourth round spell—what better place to do it than here against such a champion?"
The most remarkable aspect of Ivanovic's 9-match winning streak is that she managed to beat two of her nemesis, namely the Williams sisters. In addition to overcoming Serena in Melbourne, Ana also defeated Venus for the Auckland crown. As she confessed, the latter victory proved extremely important: "I kept thinking and going back to that match against Venus," Ivanovic said. "I felt in Auckland Venus was serving a lot faster than Serena today, and that definitely gave me confidence for today's win."
Next up for the resuscitated Ivanovic is a clash with Canadian prodigy, Eugenie Bouchard, whom she lost to in their previous meeting at Wimbledon last year. However, judging by the way she is currently playing, Ana has a solid chance of advancing deeper into the tournament.
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| Ana Ivanovic play a great match against home hope Sam Stosur in the third round, coming from behind to stun the Aussie 6-7,6-4,6-2. |
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| An overwhelming favourite coming into the Australian Open, Serena Williams couldn't find the antidote against the inspired Ivanoic. The Serbian produced the shock of the tournament, sending the world No.1 packing in the fourth round. |
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| Ana did not win a set in four previous meetings with Serena, but today she turned the tables, closing out a stunning 4-6,6-3,6-3 to book her seat in the quarterfinals. |
photos: GETTY IMAGES
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